Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was quick to seize on good news from market analytics firm International Data Corp.'s (IDC) survey of international phone sales. While the report unsurprisingly showed Android to be the king of virtually every region, the report showed that in some nations Windows Phones are outselling Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone.

But before Apple fans explode with indignation, yes there is a catch. Windows Phone outsold the iPhone in a smattering of emerging markets, where the high price of Apple's trendy phone is probably a barrier to sales success. In total Windows Phone led the iPhone in Argentina, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and "rest of central and eastern Europe".

The success in India is a pretty big deal because that's going to be a huge smartphone market. But other regions like Ukraine, South Africa, and "rest of... Europe" (smaller countries) are all markets of 100,000 or less smartphone units annually.

The Lumia 520 [Image Source: Nokia]

The arrival of low-end Windows Phone devices -- namely Nokia Oyj.'s (HEX:NOK1V) Lumia 520/620 -- has certainly boosted Windows Phone. Much like Android, Microsoft and its third-party hardware partners appear to be starting their assault on the iPhone at the low-end. While today's flagship Android phones put the iPhone's hardware to shame, the earliest Androids were largely budget devices.

It remains to be seen, though, whether Windows Phone can duplicate Android's successful creep into the high-end of the market. Microsoft is betting big on the Windows Phone Blue refresh, which will likely be the next major platform refresh. That update is expected to land sometime in the October/November window. The good news for Windows Phone 8 device owners is that Microsoft reportedly will be supporting current generation devices in the upgrade this time around.

For one, phones are not being sold at a loss or even for cheaper in developing countries. You can see bug77's links, but the HTC One is launching in Russia for 900-1000USD, which is actually *more* than it costs in "developed" countries.

Second, I totally agree with zilexa, Russia in total is 140m+ people, and the other markets are huge as well, and while the average wage may be low, there is a massive wealth gap and what you don't see in the average is that there is a large amount of potential clients with enough money to buy premium items.

However, what the research no doubt also didn't factor in (because you can't, scientifically), is that probably ~90% of iPhones in Russia, of which there are A LOT, much more than WP, are "grey market" import units. This happens for 2 reasons, one being that the launch is much later than in the US, so people buy them online and ship them over, or have their friends bring them over if they can, etc. The second reason is just as with the HTC One example: they are much more expensive in Russia than in the US, so you can save a lot by importing a unit instead. So it's not really a win for WP, I'm afraid.